The design, development, and prototyping of motor vehicle component parts, particularly injection molded or vacuum formed plastic parts and stamped metal parts, is a complicated and time consuming process. Traditionally a complete drawing is made of a component part and the drawing is then used to make a model of the part in wood or ren plank. From this wooden model, a prototype mold or die is made of kirksite, resin, or some other suitable material. Then, the prototype part is made from this prototype mold. As an adjunct to the above described method of designing and prototyping a part, it has been known to construct a cardboard model of the component part for purposes of aiding the designer in the three dimensional visualization of the component part.
Each time there is a design change in the component part, the process of making the drawing, making the wooden model, and making the mold must be repeated.
Accordingly, these design changes, which are a necessary and integral part of the design and development process, add weeks and months into the time necessary to design and develop a new motor vehicle.
It would be desirable to have a better method for designing and prototyping motor vehicle component parts in order to substantially reduce the amount of time needed to bring new products to the marketplace.